Valentino Rossi finished second in the Rally de Monza, which he competed in this weekend. Driving a Ford Focus WRC, the Italian rider was very fast throughout the race, taking four out of nine stage wins, but two errors on special stages 4 and 5 handed victory to Dindo Capello, driving a Citröen C4.

Valentino also took part in the Master’s Show, a competition involving all the participants of the rally in an elimination round special stage. Despite having the best overall time, Rossi reached the semi-finals where he lost to Capello, after beating Marco Simoncelli in the quarter final round.

After the race Rossi said “I finished the rally by winning the last super special “Grand Prix” test in the rain and I am satisfied to have taken the fastest time as well in the Master’s, where I was hoping to take revenge on Capello but I was not able to do so. In recent years the level of the Rally de Monza has risen a lot and in order to win it is not enough just to be fast, it is also necessary to make few mistakes. In any case, the last twenty days have been very entertaining for me, firstly with the motocross in Cavellara, then with a Ferrari GT in Vallelunga and now with the rally.”

The sports activities of Valentino Rossi outside the world of two wheels will continue next weekend with the “Bettega Memorial”, a rally show which is celebrated each year as part of the Bologna Motorshow.

The switch from Honda to Yamaha did not upset Rossi’s winning rhythm as he immediately claimed his fourth and fifth successive premier class titles with Yamaha.

Wasting no time in settling on the Yamaha prototype, Rossi won his first race of the 2004 MotoGP season on his new machine at Welkom and collected 11 podiums – including nine wins – on his way to glory. ‘What a Spectacle’ was the triumphant slogan on his t-shirt as he secured the title at Phillip Island.

The following year in 2005 provided another crown and yet another memorable festivity. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs joined Rossi on the track at Sepang as he marked his seventh World title in a season that delivered 11 wins.

‘Sorry for the delay’ was the party line at Motegi in 2008 as Rossi reclaimed the title which had for the past two years been won by Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner respectively. Nine wins and a total of 13 podiums are the statistics of an eighth World title winning season.

At 30 years old, the success shows no sign of fading as Rossi held off the spirited challenge of Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo throughout the 2009 campaign to take his ninth World title at Sepang, with ‘The old hen makes good soup’ Rossi’s celebratory tag.

Fifth in a row for Rossi: Sepang 2005

Rossi bounces back after two seasons without titles: Japan 2008

A ninth title for Rossi and another celebration: Sepang 2009

There was a packed schedule again on the third day of Wrooom 2010 at Madonna di Campiglio on Wednesday, with Claudio Domenicali coming under the spotlight in a morning press conference. The General Manager of Ducati Motor later joined Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden on the spectacular Patascoss slope to unveil the new Ducati Desmosedici GP10, the Ducati Marlboro Team’s latest weapon in the chase for the MotoGP title, against the dramatic backdrop of the Dolomites - recently added by Unesco to their World Natural Heritage list.

“The main changes to the bike are based on the rule changes, so the major part of the work was done precisely to make it perform better using only six engines for the entire championship,” explained Domenicali. “It’s a very important difference, because we were used to using more-or-less one engine per race, so to switch from 18 engines to six is a very important adjustment. All of the main parts were redesigned - pistons, rods, crankshaft, the basics. It’s an engine with which our main objective was to minimise the loss of power to increase durability.”

Domenicali continued: “The second big news isn’t related to the rules, but to our attempt to make the bike more rideable. This has to do with the firing order. We have a motor that, since the switch to 800cc, utilised a screamer set-up. This has permitted us to have maximum power, which was very important and was probably fundamental with the results that we’ve had in 2007, 2008 and 2009, but at a certain point, we began to wonder whether it could be worthwhile to re-test a way that we’d already followed in the past. The last 1000cc motors that we made in 2005 and 2006 used a big-bang firing order, and this gave us important rideability. We re-tested that way, first trying it on the dyno, then with Vittoriano Guareschi in his previous role as test rider and then with Nicky and Casey.”

“We think we have a bike for 2010 with better traction, and that therefore makes it easier for us to find a good set-up. Another part of the work was dedicated to the chassis. In the pursuit of ease of use, we’ve worked to eliminate the bike’s squatting, which is why the entire rear portion of the bike was redesigned. This bike has a rear structure that carries the rider - which we call the seat support - and that also supports the swingarm. That part was redesigned to have six mounting points instead of four; this makes the bike more rigid in a way and it guarantees better rideability and improved rigidity. With respect to the bike we introduced last year, this bike is also aesthetically different because of the redesigned fairing but we already saw that at Estoril.”

Domenicali then discussed the recent changes to Ducati Marlboro Team management.

“2009 was a year - even from a sporting perspective - that was difficult and complicated. Nicky found things harder than he or we expected but he gave us a great lesson because he never lost his good attitude, he always had a spirit of great optimism and positivity. We were able to put at his disposal a bike that permitted him to obtain results that were in line with his talent. He gave us a podium at Indianapolis and he kept improving the whole season.”

“Casey was very fast from the start, as he always is, and had great potential. Of course what happened at mid-season affected the season, but I believe that everyone - from Casey to us - has described what happened and clarified it so it seems useless for me to continue to give details. The important thing, in my opinion, is that today we have Casey with us, probably in the best health we’ve ever seen him. We have reason for optimism for both riders.”

“There have also been some changes to the management, with Alessandro Cicognoni and Vitto Guareschi coming in, having shown themselves in the team to have competence and perhaps even bring things that were missing. I believe that this important change leaves the company in a solid situation, also because it’s in some way personalised by an incredible talent as Filippo Preziosi, who is the true engine of all our racing activities, and he remains safe, solid, and dedicated. I believe it’s a change in the continuity, if we can define it that way.”

Domenicali continued to add: “Faith is the key word that Ducati are using in looking ahead to 2010, in a variety of aspects. We have a team that certainly makes us think we can approach the Championship with great hope. Nicky and Casey are two riders who don’t need any type of introduction. We have faith in the company, because it has a solid, stable base in the Bonomi family, and it’s a company that has managed 2009 well: the motorcycle market had a big decline in 2009 - the market declined by over 30 percent, a very heavy, difficult amount. But our company managed very well and we dropped ‘only’ 18 percent. In fact, in 2009, we had the largest share that the company has ever enjoyed historically. So also from the economic point of view, the company knew how to control very carefully its costs and manage 2009 well. For example, we didn’t cut or eliminate any development of future models, something that’s fundamental for the future health of the company.”

“We have faith in the Championship, because I see that Carmelo Ezpeleta (CEO, Dorna Sports) - here with us - has come through a truly difficult moment, with great character. He’s always been present in person, and he’s somebody with whom you can have a relationship and a dialogue, so it’s very important for our company to be present in a Championship run in this manner and Carmelo is thanked personally for this.”

“We have faith in our sponsors, because 2009, as I said, has been very difficult and yet we’ve managed to continue good relationships with them. We have a very important main sponsor in Marlboro - obviously our host at this event - which has confirmed our faith. We have other important partners like Telecom, Generali, Enel, Riello ups, that have been with us and grown with us over a long period of time. We also have faith in the media, who are well represented in this sport.”

Calendar & Circuits

2010 Season

COMMERCIALBANK GRAND PRIX OF QATAR

11 April Losail Circuit | Qatar

GRAND PRIX OF JAPAN

25 April Motegi | Japan

GRAN PREMIO bwin DE ESPAÑA

02 May Jerez | Spain

MONSTER ENERGY GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE

23 May Le Mans | France

GRAN PREMIO D'ITALIA TIM

06 June Mugello | Italy

AirAsia BRITISH GRAND PRIX

20 June Silverstone | Great Britain

TT ASSEN

26 June Assen | Netherlands

GRAN PREMI APEROL DE CATALUNYA

04 July Circuit de Catalunya | Catalunya

ENI MOTORRAD GRAND PRIX DEUTSCHLAND

18 July Sachsenring | Germany

RED BULL U.S. GRAND PRIX

25 July Laguna Seca | United States

CARDION AB GRAND PRIX CESKÉ REPUBLIKY

15 August Automotodrom Brno | Czech Republic

RED BULL INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX

29 August Indianapolis | Indianapolis

G.P. APEROL DI SAN MARINO E DELLA RIVIERA DI RIMINI

05 September Misano | San Marino

GRAND PRIX OF HUNGARY

19 September Balatonring | Hungary

MALAYSIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

10 October Sepang Circuit | Malaysia

IVECO AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

17 October Phillip Island | Australia

bwin GRANDE PREMIO DE PORTUGAL

31 October Estoril | Portugal

GRAN PREMIO GENERALI DE LA COMUNITAT VALENCIANA

07 November Comunitat Valenciana | Valencia

Download 2010 MotoGP calendar